


Eve's Day Off

by Castillon02



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, MI6 Squad - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-14 23:13:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13018200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Castillon02/pseuds/Castillon02
Summary: Eve's coworkers show their appreciation for her and Eve takes a well-earned break.





	Eve's Day Off

**Author's Note:**

> Written for one of the MI6Cafe weekly prompts, which asked for Eve having a nice day. Also thanks to @roseforthethorns, who prompted me with ‘fun’!

“You need to have some fun,” Q says that Friday at lunch, after Eve has had the week from hell thanks to a certain 00 causing diplomatic crises. Q then hands her an envelope, which she opens to find two tickets to that band she’d wanted to see (tickets which had sold out in approximately 60 seconds). 

“You’re lovely, darling,” Eve says, and she kisses his cheek. 

Q flushes a little—awkward boffin that he is—and says, “Well, only the best for the best, Ms. Moneypenny.”

***

During her afternoon break, Tanner comes by her desk for the usual exchange of grapevine gossip. Before saying goodbye, he claps her on the shoulder and asks about her weekend plans, smiling when he hears about the concert. “Good for you,” he says, and then he leaves rather quickly.

When she looks back at her desk, there’s a slender cream-colored envelope next to her laptop.

Eve raises her eyebrows at Tanner’s determinedly retreating back—Bond must have taught him some sleight of hand skills—and opens the envelope.

“You hold the admin team together,” Tanner has written on a floral-themed thank-you card. “But don’t forget to take time for yourself!” He’s left her a gift certificate for her favorite gastropub.

Eve’s stomach growls just looking at it. She’s been living on pre-made salads all week.

***  

“Ms. Moneypenny, take an early evening,” M tells her at four o’clock that day. “It’s well-deserved.”

“Thank you, sir,” she says, and at this point she almost isn’t surprised when he hands her yet another envelope.

(M doesn’t look like he’s going to take an early evening, but he rarely does. Eve sometimes has to remind herself that she doesn’t need to match M’s hours until they’re paying her his salary.)  

She opens the envelope at her desk: a certificate for a two-hour massage, and a note about rest and relaxation. “It’s the same person I use,” M has written, which means that this massage therapist must be trustworthy indeed. She’s also not to come in until Tuesday; they’ll all manage without her for three days.

Eve snorts. After three days without her, they’ll probably be even more appreciative of her than they are now. But she’s not going to argue: three days will give her time to put her feet up and catch up on Project Runway.  

***

Eve lives in a spy vs. spy world, and some weeks it leaves her hard-eyed and wrung out, the horrors of the world on her brain and the weight of her country on her shoulders.

But even in a world where deception is routine, she’s managed to find people who genuinely care for her. She screams in time with the songs at the concert, and lets some part of her burden sink into the stadium concrete; she savors the food and drink at The Hart, and she reminds herself of all the tastes and smells that are good in the world, of the people who get to spend their lives creating deliciousness instead of managing information and fear; she lets the massage therapist knead her into jelly and then back into a person again.

She spends a day on the sofa, wearing nothing but her fuzzy poodle slippers and her old Imperial trackies and thinking of nothing more complicated than reality TV.

She lets herself be Eve.

When Tuesday rolls around, it’s a refreshed Ms. Moneypenny who returns to Six, ready to report for duty.  

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Constructive criticism is welcome <3


End file.
